


could you kiss my name?

by cantfoolajoker (lichmutual)



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akira's Parents Are Very Manipulative, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mutual Pining, No Transphobia Only Akira's Taste in Partners Being Judged, Nonbinary Character, Other, POV Alternating, nonbinary narukami yu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22314301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lichmutual/pseuds/cantfoolajoker
Summary: Yu wasn’t sure what to expect when he saw a text from Akira pop up on his phone. Akira texting first was like a wild card; usually, memes were the most prominent things he sent since they were indirect conversation starters. The lack of notification that an image had been sent, however, made Yu quirk an eyebrow as he opened his phone.The sentence he read caught him off guard.Akira: yuuuuu i need a date and no girl has said yes so far
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Narukami Yu, Persona 4 Protagonist/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	could you kiss my name?

**Author's Note:**

> i started this at the beginning of the month and finished it today since i really wanted some fluff
> 
> as a note, while i don't normally specify the circumstances of gender identities for characters unless it comes up for storytelling related reasons, this is a case where it does come up as yu(ko) gets a special mention about it since they have a pronoun flip-flop through this and primarily uses she/her after the initial opening. so, with that in mind, i hope this is an enjoyable read!
> 
> (also, title is a lyric from "wild side" by ali bc its a bop alright)

Yu wasn’t sure what to expect when he saw a text from Akira pop up on his phone. Akira texting first was like a wild card; usually, memes were the most prominent things he sent since they were indirect conversation starters. The lack of notification that an image had been sent, however, made Yu quirk an eyebrow as he opened his phone.

The sentence he read caught him off guard.

Akira: yuuuuu i need a date and no girl has said yes so far

Yu paused, perplexed. He was glad this wasn’t in person as he felt the heat in his cheeks and knew they’d turned pink in color, wondering why Akira chose to inform him of this predicament. He hesitantly typed back a response.

Yu: What do you need a date for?  
Akira: so like, ive been telling my parents i cant do shit bc i have a girlfriend  
Akira: but now theyre hosting this dinner party and they told me to bring her so they can meet her  
Akira: and like Clearly i don’t have one

Yu felt his shoulders drop, unable to help the wave of disappointment that came over him.

Yu: So, you want me to dress as a girl and go to the dinner party with you?

There was a notable pause until the next string of texts came in.

Akira: that was  
Akira: not what i expected at all  
Akira: but if youre offering  
Akira: :D  
Yu: What did you expect?  
Akira: i mean  
Akira: i was hoping you’d ask one of your friends for me  
Akira: But you make a hot chick too so this works!

Yu’s cheeks flushed further at the casualness of the statement, seeing the “Akira is typing…” appear on his screen still.

Akira: wait you still have the delinquent get up right

He could see where this was going from a mile away, and while he did enjoy dressing femininely, he knew this was going to end in disaster.

Yu: Yes, I do  
Akira: listen can you do that but like  
Akira: dressed up sexy bad girl aura  
Akira: like would step on you in heels aura  
Yu: Why does this sound like a bad idea already  
Akira: Listen i just wanna piss my parents off

Yu set his phone down and hummed, pondering how much he now wanted to do this. The way Akira had responded so happily to the original offer was the main incentive for actually going through with this side, and it made a very compelling argument. Sighing, he picked up his phone again.

Yu: Yes, I think I can manage that  
Akira: !!!!!!!!!!  
Akira: thank you :D

Yu shook his head in fondness as the “Akira is typing…” notification continued to appear.

Akira: i promise ill treat u to ice cream after  
Yu: I’ll hold you to it

After receiving the time and place, Yu sent a quick text to Kanji to get his help on the outfit portion of this plan. It finally settled on him after he put his phone down again that he’d just accepted to be Akira’s fake date for a night.

“What have I gotten myself into?” He muttered to himself, putting his head in his hands and feeling the heat radiating from them.

* * *

“Oh god, I think my contact slipped,” Akira complained to himself in a mutter, using his phone’s self-facing camera mode and blinking intensely to get the contact to set back into place before Yu showed up. After a few seconds, it corrected itself, and he carefully wiped away any tears that would have resulted so as to not mess up the eyeliner he’d painstakingly done to keep his sharp-eyed look. 

Pulling the phone back, he took in his own appearance. Thankfully, his hair was slicked down and back still since he’d put in gel earlier, though Akira hasn’t expected it to hold. Adjusting his black tie carefully, he moved to fix the collar of his red dress shirt and then extended his arms so the rolled-up sleeves would stay above his elbows. 

He was expected to look nice and dress fancy so Akira played by those rules, though he did also liked to read the rules before he broke them.

“Where’s Yu?” Akira mumbled to no one in particular as he swiped away from his phone’s camera application to check the time.

“Akira!”

“Ah, speak of the devil,” Akira said with a chuckle, louder this time. He turned around to face the familiar voice he’d heard call his name and— Oh.

Yu had matched the color scheme they had agreed to, with a black dress and red gloves. They were in a floor-length dress- or, well, what would have been floor length if it wasn’t for the strappy silver heels giving them a few extra inches- with high slits up the sides, ending at their mid-thighs and showing off their toned legs. The dress went to a high collar point in the front to help emphasize their figure, with a lack of sleeves showing off their broad shoulders and equally toned arms.

Akira couldn’t help but whistle, feeling the reality of the situation catching up to him with his cheeks turning pink. “Damn, is that dress made of wifey material?” he asked, trying to recollect himself with a joke as he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets and casually approached.

Yu flushed, pressing their red lipstick lips together and brushing some of their long, straightened hair behind their shoulder. “You’re the one to talk,” they retorted. “Also, do you happen to have any spare pocket room to hold my phone?”

“Mmmmhm,” Akira hummed, holding his hand out and receiving Yu’s phone, only pausing to savor the silky texture of the gloves. “Anything for the wifey!” 

“It’s Yuko, actually,” she corrected, bringing her hands back to her sides as Akira opened his vest to stick her phone in a much more contained pocket on the inside of the vest.

“Miss Yuko? How about Missus Akira instead?”

“Flirt,” Yuko said with a snort, bringing up her hand to poke him in the forehead playfully. “I’d hate to keep your parents waiting any longer.”

Akira paused. He’d wanted to avoid the actual reality of the situation; making it fun and games made it easier for him to process, but in turn, he was also putting it off, since he didn’t even want to go to this dinner in the first place. His shoulders relaxing with a sigh, he offered his arm to Yuko like the polite gentleman his parents tried to raise him to be, and she took it with ease, resting her opposing hand on his bicep to give an encouraging squeeze.

Akira guided them to the fancy dinner place that’d been rented out. His parents worked for the Kirijo Group; in which section exactly, he couldn’t give an answer, since it wasn’t like he cared enough to join their ranks as the other children did. Nevertheless, his parents still expected him to show up and make an example of their family name, which was a point of contention between them.

Approaching the front doors, Akira flashed a signature forced smile. “Kurusu plus one,” he told the bouncer, faking confidence and making himself stand straighter.

The bouncer took one look between the two and examined the guest list before grunting and opening the door for the both of them.

Inside, people were scattered about while the waiters were still setting up the main dining table everyone would be seated at. Akira glanced around, feeling how tense he was, and he was pretty certain Yuko picked up on it too as he felt her squeeze his bicep to get his attention once more.

“You feeling alright?” she asked gently, her voice a murmur amongst the soft, constant chatter of the other individuals attending the dinner that night.

“Yeah, yeah,” Akira responded with ease, nodding his head, but with just a glance out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that she knew she was being waved off, though she only pressed her lips together and didn’t comment further.

Turning his head back to survey the other people present, his eyes finally landed on the sight of his parents, dressed in blacks and blues. Knowing they were the main people he was going to have to talk to that night aside from Yuko, he gently nudged her and nodded his head in their direction. “That’s them.”

Yuko hummed, and Akira was certain she noticed his hesitation at the concept of approaching them. She still gave him an encouraging smile regardless, pulling his arm closer to her in a way that made Akira go warm, his insides melting at the contact.

With his newfound confidence powered by Yuko’s smile, he huffed and tugged her along over to the pair he was dreading to talk to.

Akira had to hold onto to his confidence tightly when they gained the attention of his parents, seeing the way first his mother caught sight of them and her lips pressed together and her eyes closed half way as she met Akira’s gaze briefly, disapproval clear in her expression as far as Akira could read. It was the look she always gave him; he never could remember a moment she ever looked at him with fondness.

The attention of his father came next, turning his body to face him and Yuko, and it became readily apparent that Yuko was the tallest one in the group with the added height from her heels. 

“Mother, father,” Akira started, bowing his head with a twinge of instinctual fear, “this is Narukami Yuko, my significant other.”

The language was uncomfortable on his tongue, forced and formal.

“Hello,” Yuko gave a dazzling smile- though when was her smile ever not? “It’s an honor to meet you both.”

“Likewise,” Akira’s mother replied curtly, shaking Yuko’s hand. Akira would have laughed over his mother’s shocked expression at the hard grip Yuko possessed if it weren’t for the anxiety constantly bubbling in him. 

His father gave a nod of his head, only giving a hum in response as he shook her hand as well.

Akira could tell they were disappointed; he read the implied meanings their actions and their expressions held. His mother liked to keep conversations short, always wanting to have the last word. His father wasn’t outwardly emotional and usually spoke to him with flat words.

“I told you about her before,” Akira said, his great and brilliant plan he crafted to make his parents mad working before his eyes and yet it put him on edge as it worked. “She’s top of her class. Had one of the highest exam scores during test season. She does lotsa extracurriculars too.” He paused, seeing the expression not change. “May get a major in criminal justice.”

Sure, he may have described Yuko _already_ as his fake girlfriend; she was simply the perfect significant other in his eyes. Convincing his parents of this was a different story, since they were quick to judge a book by its cover and leave it at that.

His parents nodded, eyes taking in Yuko once more, and the way she held herself higher and gave an award-winning smile made Akira’s heart ache. She was taking it far better than he was.

“Was there nobody shorter?” His father asked plainly, eyes drifting to the obvious gap in height between Akira and her.

Akira boiled at that, and he decided now was the time to end this conversation. “What can I say? I like a woman with nice legs.”

“My basketball team went to nationals recently!” Yuko piped up, sounding chipper, and Akira could tell she was picking up on his attempt to make this conversation uncomfortable now. “Your son was sweet enough to come and support me.”

Akira’s mother nodded her head slowly, her lips pressing into a thin line. “Congratulations on that advancement,” she said, though her tone gave away her unconvinced stance on the whole matter. “We will see you when we get home tonight, correct?” she asked, turning to Akira as she spoke in order to clearly address him.

Akira could feel his lips slant slightly, only slightly embarrassed his curfew getting brought up in front of Yuko and mostly feeling the disappointment seep into his being. 

Sure, that was the point, make his parents angry at his choice of partners so they would get off his back about it. Yet Akira knew that Yuko would have been considered the perfect child otherwise in his parents’ eyes: obedient, smart, polite, and many other traits Akira could never exactly embody. He was pretty certain there had to have been some mix-up, since Akira was born to be the exact opposite of everything his parents tried to raise him to be.

His grip tightened on Yuko’s arm and he gave a curt nod of his head. “Yes, you both will,” he confirmed, withholding a huff. “Have a good night.”

Akira could feel Yuko pull him away as soon as partings were said,wishing them a good evening as well with her toothy grin and ominous air she put off. She was compensating for both of their mischievousnesses at this point, since Akira was already beginning the process of shutting down, putting how he felt in a bottle and capping it tightly. He tried hard not to let those sorts of things get to him— he was used to it by now, he always told himself— yet the pain always found the familiar grooves of the scars that had been etched into his very being since he was young.

Akira went through the motions; he followed Yuko’s lead until they arrived at their seats claimed by his name, and he moved to pull her chair out for her and offered to take her gloves for dinner. He folded them up neatly and stuck them in the pocket on the inside of his vest like he’d been taught before, acting the part of a gentleman although not embodying the charm one would carry.

The individuals sitting around them were dressed similarly to the pair, though their auras were different. They all had shark teeth grins, eagerly discussing business and the idea of following in their parent’s footsteps. Akira sunk into his seat as best as he could, his mouth dry as everything went gray for him.

He was used to enduring this alone, wilting under the atmosphere and his own feelings.

That was why the gentle elbow to his side and the enchanting laugh that followed surprised Akira, shaking him from his thoughts as he sat up straight and looked toward his date who filled his vision with color once more.

“That guy’s clearly never held a broom in his life,” Yuko murmured to him, a private conversation just for the two of them to engage in and a lovely smile for Akira to savor, “can you imagine how Sojiro would scold him? Oh, and that tech nerd doesn’t sound like he could program his way out of a paper bag. Pretty sure Futaba could run circles around him.”

Akira paused, taking in her words. He then broke out into a grin and laughed. “You’re right,” he informed her, his heavy heart lightening up, and the way Yuko smiled in turn only made his cheeks hurt more as he tried to match it.

They continued to volley the conversation back and forth on the topic, making fun of the stiff and formal tones being used along with questioning how many of the other individuals could define the large words they were using. It was like they were in their own bubble away from, enjoying each other’s company in spite of how they were supposed to behave.

Akira brought a hand up to carefully wipe underneath his eyes, feeling tears threatening to appear and ruin his make up with how much he’d been laughing. “I’m glad I brought you,” he said, voice soft, and he set his hand down carefully.

What he didn’t realize until his brain had caught up to his actions was that he’d set his hand on top of hers, the feeling of warm and soft skin causing his cheeks to flare up. “I’m sorry—“

Akira wasn’t able to pull his hand away, as Yuko was one step ahead and clasped his hand instead, smiling softly and meeting his eyes as she gave it a comforting squeeze.

He could feel a sudden wave of shyness take over as he could only squeeze back, unable to talk and or look Yuko in the eyes as he directed his gaze to the empty plate in front of him. He was fully aware of the irony that he couldn’t take a flirt when he could give one, but it wasn’t the same when the object of his affections was the one returning it.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Yuko assured him, though he’d almost missed her words at the feeling of blood rushing to his ears and warming them up in further embarrassment.

Akira could only squeeze her hand again in response, and he mustered up the courage in him to gently knock his foot against hers. He had the dorkiest smile on his face and he knew it well from the way his cheeks ached. Yet he couldn’t help himself, not when Yuko gave him every reason to smile.

He only caught a shy look and soft pink flush from Yuko before dinner was brought out, and Akira was thankful he was allowed to recover after that moment had nearly stolen all the air in his lungs. He tried not to think too hard on it, not get too hopeful; he only focused on the expensive food in front of him and tried his hardest not to make faces at some of the odd textures and flavors.

When dinner was mostly finished and conversation was picking up once more around the table, Akira surveyed the scene and felt his familiar rebellious confidence settle in with Yuko as his partner in crime. Catching her attention, he nodded his head towards the door. 

“You wanna stay for dessert or—?”

Yuko hummed as if she were actually considering it, though he could see in her eyes as she glanced around that her mind had already been made up. “Nah, this place sucks,” she answered, grinning at Akira and receiving a grin in return as the two stood up.

Thankfully everyone else was too caught up in their own business as the duo departed, and their empty seats unnoticed as they made their way outside.

“I still owe you ice cream,” Akira pointed out, offering his arm.

“Well lucky for us, there should be a place down the street that sells some,” Yuko responded, taking Akira’s arm with ease.

“Lucky us,” Akira agreed, and the two couldn’t stop their smiles as they began their walk, disregarding what anyone wanted to think about the two of them all dressed up and getting ice cream. They were together, which was more than enough for Akira, especially when he was able to show up back at home with a red lipstick mark proudly displayed on his cheek and poorly cleaned red-stained lips.


End file.
